Third-year students in film and media studies have been 'connecting the dots' between economic theory and the realities of poverty and inequality through the production of a new student publication called Cape Connect.

The twin threats of a winter rain storm and load shedding did little to dampen the creative spirits of the South African College of Music corps at last night's Vice-Chancellor's Concert in the Baxter Theatre Centre.

The debate about curriculum and staff diversity is gaining momentum at some South African as well as British universities. Some have challenged the dominance of dead white men in university literary studies departments. But what would a more diverse, less Eurocentric reading list look like in different disciplines? Read more...

Faculty Focus – CHED

The CHED Faculty Focus profiles the Centre for Higher Education Development's work with a special focus on the 'enabling pathways' that extend from school right through to the world of work. Highlights include:

During the past three weeks, a conflict has erupted within UCT's Student Representative Council (SRC) and student body, triggered by a post that Ms Zizipho Pae, the Vice President External of the SRC, put on her personal Facebook page. Vice-Chancellor Dr Max Price responds to the developments in his latest VC Desk. Read more...

What started as a question around whether UCT should continue to house a statue of Cecil John Rhodes on its campus has become a much larger movement for change, a call to re-imagine and re-engage with what a transformed African and South African university looks like – whether in terms of its ethos, curriculum, research, symbols, policies or demographics.

UPDATE: While the Rhodes statue has been temporarily removed, UCT is applying for its permanent removal – a process that involves a public consultation process. Mail rhodes.statue@chand.co.za to comment on this final step.

IN THE NEWS

Monday, 3 August 2015

How garlic kills cancer cells

New research by Dr Catherine Kaschula and her research team in UCT's Department of Chemistry has established how a compound found in the crushed cloves of garlic, known as ajoene, kills cancer cells. Garlic has been known to have an anti-cancer effect, although no one has understood – until now – how it works. Read more...

Scientific voyage to retrieve vital ocean data

After two years of negotiation between scientists and government ministers, the polar research vessel SA Agulhas II is heading into the Southern Ocean where a UCT oceanography team has some unfinished business.

There are still two Erik Chisholm commemorative lunch-hour concerts to look forward to at the South African College of Music this year. They are the final in a three-part series to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of the Scottish composer, pianist and conductor.

Five million years ago, the southwestern tip of Africa was teaming with animals such as the African bear (Agriotherium), the giant wolverine (Plesiogulo), the short-neck long-horned giraffe (Sivatherium), ancestral forms of the elephant and mammoth as well as modern elephants and various raptors, seabirds and ground birds.

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Language course breaches barriers

Patients are more at ease and much more open about what ails them when a medical practitioner addresses them in their mother tongue.

This has been the experience of Cyril Mahlati, a Xhosa-speaking nurse at the Kraaifontein community health centre, who recently completed a course in conversational Afrikaans. The course, as part of which participants are able to improve their proficiency in either isiXhosa or Afrikaans, is a joint initiative between UCT's health science and humanities faculties, the Western Cape health department and the European Union.

"The patient is more free when I speak Afrikaans instead of English. I thought I at least understood some Afrikaans before the course, but notice that I understand a lot more now," said Mahlati.

This year saw the third group of healthcare workers completing the 12-week course, which is available to staff at both the Delft and Kraaifontein community health centres. Plans are afoot to extend the course to personnel in the Northern Tygerberg district. In September it will be presented to staff at the Orbit Centre and Karl Bremer Hospital.